Panelist and Speaker

Name:

Eric Trowbridge (AKA ET)

Title:

Director of Development and Enterprise Applications - Blue

Why ET?

Eric Trowbridge commonly referred to by his initials, ET, is the Director of Development & Enterprise Applications at Wyoming’s largest credit union, Blue. He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and graduated from Central High School in 2004.

ET then moved to San Francisco to study art direction and later relocated to Los Angeles to work in the film industry for various art and design departments on short and feature films. He then began working for Apple in a leadership capacity for eight years in Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago.

ET moved back to Wyoming in 2014 and helped found Array in 2016, which became Wyoming’s first accelerated private school teaching graphic design, computer science fundamentals, and web development among other subject areas. He was the Chief Executive Officer until August 2021.

In 2018, he was appointed by the City of Cheyenne’s Mayor to chair a city-wide broadband task force exploring solutions to affordable and high-speed broadband efforts for the City. Later that year, ET was appointed by Wyoming’s Governor to serve a four-year term on the state’s Workforce Development Council and now serves as its Vice Chairman.

And, he can't wait to share...

…Everything that I have learned from working at one of the most admired companies in the world, Apple, and my journey through four different cities. I am also excited to share my experiences coming back to Wyoming, being an entrepreneur, and now running the software development and design teams for a 2-billion-dollar company headquartered in Cheyenne.

Panelist and Speaker

Name:

Dr. Alan Buss

Title:

Director, School of Teacher Education - University of Wyoming

Why Dr. Buss

Dr. Alan Buss, Professor in the School of Teacher Education, teaches science and mathematics education courses for pre-service elementary teachers, as well as graduate courses in learning theory and integrating technology in the classroom. The focus of his research is on meaningful integration of educational technologies to enhance students’ understanding of science and mathematics. These technologies include LEGO robotics, coding, and 3D visualization in immersive virtual and augmented reality environments. He is currently the Director of the School of Teacher Education at the University of Wyoming.

...and he can't wait to talk about

… All the cool things the University of Wyoming is doing in the realm of augmented and virtual reality. You won’t believe what they are up to!

Panelist and Speaker

Name:

Jon Prather

Title:

Professor of Neuroscience, Dept of Physiology and Zoology, Director of the Undergraduate Life Sciences Program - University Of Wyoming

Why Jon?

Jon has always been interested in how we learn, how we store information in our memory, and how we recall that information to guide our behaviors. Improving behavior based on new information lies at the heart of learning, and he has received funding to explore how the brain enables us to learn and how educators and students can work together to help students learn most effectively.

Jon has received funding for his research from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, and many private foundations. Most recently, he has received a grant to explore how augmented reality can be used to create a shared space where students work together to explore fundamental concepts and processes in biology that were previously invisible to students.

And he can't wait to talk about...

… all the new approaches that he and his colleagues are developing to harness the power of augmented reality and social learning to help students gain a much deeper understanding of cellular and molecular processes that were previously invisible and inaccessible to students. The goal of this work is to eventually create collaborative laboratory experiences where students are inspired to explore, develop, test, and refine their ideas about how the processes of life actually work. Harnessing this emerging technology holds the promise of eliminating distance as a limitation to students working together, opening new ways for students to collaborate and learn together across our great state.

Panelist and Speaker

Name:

Megan Degenfelder

Title:

Republican Nominee - Superintendent of Public Instruction

Why Megan?

Megan Degenfelder is the current Republican nominee for Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She comes from a 6-generation, Wyoming ranching family, having grown up attending public schools in Casper and graduating from the University of Wyoming. She holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing, China and has built her career in Wyoming in the private sector and in education. Megan worked both in the coal industry in Gillette, and now currently in the oil and gas industry, working in government and regulatory affairs. In education, she served under previous Superintendent Jillian Balow in the cabinet level position of Chief Policy Officer. Megan serves on several non-profit boards, is volunteer coach for the University of Wyoming women’s rugby team and is an active member of her church and the Cheyenne Trap & Skeet Club. Her husband, Bryan Dugas, is a graduate of the WWAMI Medical School program and they live in Laramie.

And she can't wait to talk about...